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 OK … it’s official … I’m depressed! Hurricanes,
wind, waves and rain may not stop the U.S. Mail but they’ve grounded too
many Southwest Florida divers in the last 6 weeks. And, can you believe
that we’re barely half way through official hurricane season?
Just last week I heard these words come out of my own mouth and I couldn’t
believe I even uttered them – “I’m looking forward to winter.” I NEVER
look forward to winter so I claim temporary tropical storm insanity. This
morning when I tiptoed down the driveway in my bare feet and shorts in
search of the morning newspaper, I realized that the air was down to a
nippy 72 degrees. The shelves in the grocery store that only a week or so
ago were filled with gallon jugs of water and flashlights are now loaded
with Halloween pumpkins and candy corn. How could this happen and where
did the summer go?
If luck and weather holds out, by tomorrow we’ll be headed to the Keys for
some relief. “The Heavy Metal Wreck Trek” dive trip was put together for
us by our able dive coordinator, Brian. One advantage of a dive club is
the ability to charter the entire boat and load it up with 20 of your
closest dive buddies so you don’t have to spend time in the “company of
strangers”. We’ll be diving with Kelly’s on the Bay & Aquanuts in Key
Largo on one of their spacious Newton 42’ dive boats. The boats are rated
for 32 divers so we’ll have plenty of space for dive gear and cameras.
Back in the good ole days, a wreck dive in the Keys meant a trip to the
Benwood or to some mysterious clump of debris on the bottom that used to
be a wreck. The later years have been good to divers who enjoy the mystery
of a shipwreck, even one that was intentionally sunk as an artificial
reef.
One of our goals this weekend is the huge Spiegel Grove, a massive 510
foot ship rising from a 130’ depth in the Dixie Shoals area of Key Largo.
The U.S. Navy ship, intentionally sunk in 2002, is 12 decks in height
although lying on her side, rises to only 65’. Divers who have visited the
Spiegel Grove are in awe of the big ship. This largest ship ever to be
made into an artificial reef would take multiple dives to explore and even
in the clearest visibility, it would be impossible to see the entire ship
from any point. You may think that diving a wreck is similar to viewing a
big pile of junk but to wreck divers, it is the ultimate in diving
adventure. In addition to the lure of the wreck, there are reports that
over 125 species of fish have been documented including a resident Goliath
Grouper (not really big news for Southwest Florida divers, but an
attraction for many others). Sea life sightings include mutton snapper,
black grouper, bluehead wrasse, bar jacks, damselfish, ocean surgeon fish,
striped grunts and hoards of others.
Another wreck we plan to explore is The US Coast Guard Cutter Duane, one
of seven 327’ Secretary Class vessels. Launched in June 1936, The Duane
has a long history of search & rescue in both the North Atlantic and Viet
Nam and in the 1970’s had some involvement in drug enforcement.
Decommissioned in 1985 as the oldest active U.S. military vessel and sunk
November 26, 1987 as an artificial reef off Molasses Reef in Key Largo,
the Duane is an impressive wreck. At around 60 feet, you can expect to see
schools of large Barracuda and an occasional shark. Big rays have been
seen and a resident Green Moray calls this place home. The dive ranges
from 50-125’ with the main deck around 100 feet. The wreck is intact and
unlike the Spiegel Grove, sits upright, making an easier orientation for
exploring divers.
The third wreck we plan to visit is the Eagle, built in Holland in 1962
and originally known as the Raila Dan. In 1985, the ship was bought by the
Florida Keys Artificial Reef Association, cleaned and sunk in 110 feet
northeast of Alligator Reef Light. In 1988, Hurricane Georges split the
wreck in two but much of the ship including the propeller and rudder is
still intact. There is still a lot of structure on the Eagle and marine
life is abundant around an on the ship. This is a very popular wreck for
visitors to the Keys and definitely worth many repeat visits.
It looks like I found the sure cure for depression and hurricane blues.
Time to dig through all of those hurricane supplies in the garage and
locate the dive gear. It’s sure to be buried under spare batteries,
gasoline containers, gallon jugs of water and all of the gear that was
pulled off the boat in preparation for the last storm. The garage probably
needs to be cleaned too but.... I’ll worry about that tomorrow.
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